“Japan to Launch First Joint Missile Defense Exercise with U.S.”

Japan will launch its first marine missile defense (MD) joint exercise with the U.S. Navy in January next year, said the Yomiuri Shimbun on July 5, a Japanese daily newspaper, quoting Japanese government officials.

Before the joint exercise, Japanese Navy Self-Defense Forces will test in December the MD functions of the Kongo, its Aegis destroyer. The newspaper reported that the joint exercise will involve Aegis destroyers that are MD-equipped from both countries.

The exercise aims to improve joint response capabilities of both naval forces to run a MD system.

The exercise is likely to be held on the East Sea, and will assume that North Korea is attacking with ballistic missiles. The plan is to respond to a North Korean attack using its mid-range Rodong missiles, which can reach all of Japan with a range of 1,300 km, by launching Standard Missiles (SM-3) from the Aegis destroyers. The joint exercise will be carried out on a computer, instead of using live shells.

When North Korea conducted a missile test on July 5 last year, the Japanese Ministry of Defense loaded SM-3s on the Kongo three months earlier than scheduled.

The Yomiuri Shimbun said that with the joint exercise, the MD system between Japan and the U.S. will be applied more seriously.

sya@donga.com